William B. Pitt – 50th Reunion Essay

William B. Pitt

133 N. Kelly St.

Statesville, NC 28677

wpitt604@gmail.com

704-873-5035

Spouse(s): Lucinda D. Pitt (1969)

Child(ren): Jessica and Whitney

Education: BA Yale College 1969; MA Wood Technology North Carolina State University 1977

National Service: US Navy 1969–1974, Lieutenant

Career: Various Management Positions Wood-Based Manufacturing Companies

Avocations: Woodworking, Gardening, Tree Farming

College: Morse

“Draft-induced enlistee,” That was the term the navy had for people like me in 1968: didn’t want to go to Vietnam, didn’t want to go to Canada. Wanting a different option, I applied to the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School in August prior to our senior year, got in that fall, and took the oath when I was home for Christmas vacation.

After graduation the following July, Cindy and I were married on the fifth, and I reported for duty at Naval OCS Newport, Rhode Island (with a number of other Yalies from our class), on the 19th.

After a month at OCS, I was ordered to a meeting, where the interviewer noted that I had a strong background in foreign language training at Yale, and asked if I would be interested in learning Russian. An easy decision, a quick “yes,” and in December 1969 Cindy and I headed to Monterey, California, and the Defense Language Institute, where both of us studied Russian for the next year.

Toward the end of the course, the next decision was presented: duty station. Again, it wasn’t a tough one: I could either go to Adak, Alaska, without Cindy for one year, or I could volunteer for submarine duty and go with her to the base in Rota, on the Spanish coast, east of Gibraltar, for three years. Next stop: Rota.

Southern Spain (Andalusia) was rich in the traditions of wine (sherry), food, flamenco, architecture, and had some of the most spectacular, underpopulated beaches in the world. Our time there was idyllic, and when we returned home, it was with two daughters, Jessica and Whitney.

Reentry into the US economy, which was struggling, was rough. I applied to business schools and got in, but I had developed a contrary streak while in the navy, and was looking for a less conventional path.

When Cindy and I were in Spain, we needed furniture, and I built it. The more woodworking I did, the more challenged I became, and the more I wanted to do; so, during my reentry period, I started to ask the question: is there university level training in woodworking/furniture manufacturing somewhere in the US? At that time, the one program I could find was a program in wood technology combined with furniture manufacturing and management at North Carolina State in Raleigh.

I drove to Raleigh in February 1975, met with the two program heads at NC State, and the value of both the Yale education and the Yale degree shone through again when they aggressively recruited me. The following July, I started the degree program.

Throughout this reentry period, Cindy was my rock. When my spirits flagged, she picked me up. Even though we were in constant transition these years, she made a stable, warm home for our daughters and me; had she not been by my side, I would have floundered. We left Raleigh with a job in management at a furniture manufacturing company in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina, and an old house to renovate.

That job led to others, all in one aspect or another of the woodworking industry. Ultimately, thanks again to my facility with foreign languages, I became head of the US subsidiary of a German manufacturer of high-tech industrial woodworking equipment, where I spent the last 30-plus years of my career. I felt very lucky that someone would pay me to visit woodworking companies and see the interesting work they were doing.

Our daughters have grown up, been educated, and moved on into their own lives. Both are accomplished, hard-working, and bright, one working in the healthcare industry, the other in advertising. They are a joy to be with, and we spend every minute we can with them.

Their mother, of course, is the most fun to be with; she has been and is my partner, friend, cheerleader, and collaborator; she has brought out the best in me. An accomplished artist and craftsperson, Cindy has a studio adjacent to my woodworking shop, where she focuses these days on fused glass.

We enjoy Piedmont, North Carolina’s climate, our crafts, and our lives together.